Messages

[sometimes]

DG: Yes, interest and pointless matters are on an objective basis the same thing.

I don't know if I'd agree. I would say sometimes pointless matters can be interesting. But not everything interesting is pointless. A minor contention, though.


And to everyone who treats me like a piece of furniture, consider me a lounge chair WHO WILL PUNCH YOU IN THE THROAT WITH A RACECAR!!

ha ha j/k kthxbye lol!!1!

P.S. I also agree about Fluke. His new thread on Warhammer is a big improvement on his old ones.

Icecream? Oh boy! I'll definately come with you guHEYWAITAMINUTE!!

Aye. My point was not to say people should explicitly ask for feedback in threads. More so, my point was to open the sphere of your thread, take it to the next level, and give us something more.

Linus, I have an assortment of ideas in regards to your queries.

DG: I do not think that text has deeper meanings, but when reading between the lines, you can find substance. I can agree that less is more only if the lesser is based out of the more and carefully cut out in a conscious way. Or in a more suitable wording: To say little, you have to think big.

In that case, I think the problem with Fluke's posts is that he doesn't think big either. He limits the sphere of his inital post to himself and never really opens things up for discussion. I think he needs to expand his posts to encourage better communication.

"But does he really have to announce it here?"
..that goes for basicallly anything. The line between interest and pointless crap is next to zip. And the bastard is elastic aswell. To clarify; the forum rules, both official and inofficial are not based on anything but constructed preferences without any basis other than sociocultural (in)differences. Therefor, how can you decide wether a thread topic has value or not before it actually do get feedback?

I'm not too sure how you came to the conclusion that something that has interest has the same value as something that's pointless (if that is what you're saying) -- I can see what you're saying in some regards, but at the same time i ask if it's either helpful or harmful. It's a pretty big leap that you haven't really justified to well, other than "that goes for basicallly anything". It's sort of like comparing salmon to a MacDonald's Fillet o' Fish and concluding they both are edible because they're both food. (DG notes: you can build you own house with Micky-D's Fillet o' Fishes as bricks. The special sauce also makes a good substitute for concrete.) We humans crave information as much as we crave food. Even more so in some cases. If the choice was up to me, I'd pick the threads that taste like salmon. But that's because I'd a snobbish bastard. (Can someone pass the grey poupon, please?)

I think there's a difference between a thread that encourages the free exchange of ideas in order to make us an enlightened community, and one that focuses squarely on the trivialities of a 13-year-old. I don't think that has as much to do with alienating sociocultural differences because Fluke is more than welcome to give his 2 cents in any of the other major topics out there and I'm sure he's contributed at least some nuggets of insight to our more popular topics. Hooray for freedom of speech! And I'm not disregarding his worth as someone who can provide insight. But when setting a particular agenda for a thread (as in "Okay, we're going to discuss this: blah blah blah"), he really needs to try harder.

My guess is this forum assumes a fairly high level of maturity of its members. That's not to say people under 16 can't join. They can. They just have to be willing to participate in communications that require a more mature tone. It's fine to discuss the heights of all form members, but make the thread a little more relevant. Expand the height issue so people aren't going, "So what?"

How about something like:

hey Guys!

i've had a huge growth spurt in the last few days. now all my friends won't call me shorty.

fluke: 1, puberty: 0

**how about you? did you have any difficulties with you height? or puberty in general? share your stories...**

kthxby

I've tried to replicate Fluke's typing style to show that presentation is no big deal as such, but my main point is its at least a initial post that can encourage discussion. The bit with the asterisks where I ask what the rest of the forum thinks is key.

But I don't think it's unjust for users here to become critical when Fluke posts some random blatherings about his height and expect them to actually give a shit. Once again, just my opinion. Maybe it's just a miscommunication on Fluke's behalfn

And to be honest, these forums are pretty lenient with such things. I've been to forums where people (normally 13 and 14 year-olds) start dud threads and then get the shit kicked out of them. If this was SomethingAwful, Fluke would have been banned by his second post. And even after paying the $10 to use the forums in the first place!

DG: With that, I think we have reached two separate notions that attract our forumites tastes. Presentation and substance. But where presentation is very much based on subjectivity, substance is more solid. Or is it? Bringing up your example, I can retrive very much sustance from that:

Growth, frustration of physical appearance, exposition, school relations, puberty and how that affects all of the aformentioned and actual relief of being considered 'normal'.

Where it lacks in presentation, and writing of reflection, if you read between the lines, you can pick up and interpret reflection pretty easy due to the naïvistic use of words.

You make Fluke out to be some kind of Peter Sellers-like character from the movie Being There where the most banal blatherings can cause deep thinkers to go, "Hmm, yes he does have a point!"

Could media analysts in 50 years time read Fluke's posts and scatch their heads while thinking, "Hmmm, what could these strange texts mean? This man is wise beyond his years!"

I honestly doubt it. But stranger things have happened so, meh, I could be wrong.

All I can say is sure, I agree with you that there's a lot of insight in Fluke's posts on the perils of puberty... but only if you're psychology professor investigating teen development (and let's fact it, there are hundreds of those guys on this board every single day)!

But if that's the case, I might as well do the same thing... Start threads on the most trivial aspects of my life. For example: "today cleaned some storage sheds! IT WAS AWESOME cuase i used a BRUSH! then i drove home! watch out cars i'm in a hurry! weeeeee". I'm sure from that you could extrapolate great substance on the mind of a 24-year-old dickhead.

Now imagine if we all did this. Ta-da! You're just created the internet version of a toilet bowl.

See, a lot of the threads on this forum do have some specific purpose. Ususally it's someone looking for a specific piece of software, someone with material to debate, or shameless bragging.  Notice Fluke didn't cop too much flack for his "please help me with my homework" thread (even though the bastard should do his own damn homework)! See, that thread at least had a purpose.

But to tell us that he's grown a couple of inches? Great. Good for him. But does he really have to announce it here? To quote David Cross, I don't cream my pants when the guy at the donut shop gets my order right.

Maybe that's just my grumpy, old man perspective on things. But that's just it -- a perspective. To be honest, I don't really care. I do the same thing as Ghormak... I just ignore those threads and carry on with my life. But since the issue has been brought to light (like it has sooooo many times in the past), I figured I'd add my cashews to the mixed nuts.

Also, what Farlander said about effort. Farlander may not have the best grasp of English but the dude tries his best every single time to get very insightful points across.

Anyway, we all know he's really DG in disguise anyway....

I'm like the AGS equivalent of Fletch.

btw guys can you help me with my math hoemwork?

It's the difference between being a DG, who posts greatly timed and executed replies, and a ... well, any one of a thousand other people whose 'funny' replies get lost or misconstrued because they just don't work.

Thank you muchly for the kind words.

If people think more before posting, there would be more interesting topics per thread started. This would encourage more mature and thoughtful people to partake in the discussions.
If every thread was some random tossed out question without any personal reflections, people would grew tired of the entire forum and move to something else.
It's all a matter of forming this forum into something better.

I reckon Andail hits the nail on the head here.

When I read threads, I like a bit of subtance to them. More meat, less fat.

For an example of a thread without substance, take this grand masterpiece from Fluke...

It's finally happened!
After 13 years of being paid out about being short,
i've had a pretty big growth spurt.
While it's not drastic (about 75% of the class are taller than me)
it's a lot better.
I CAN ACTUALLY WALK DOWN A HALLWAY WITHOUT A YEAR 9+ MAKING A JOKE ABOUT MY HEIGHT!
Ah, the puberty system works.
Cheers,
(a normal, non-short) Fb.

While this might be a significant achievement for Fluke, it leaves me wondering "So what?" If Fluke really feels the need to fill the internet with the banal minutia of his life, why can't the fucker start a blog or a myspace profile? Everyone has one these days, so why can't he utilise the POWER OF TECHNOLOGY to do so.

If he's going to post on a forum, he has to consider that other people read it and can contribute. And it seems people on this forum perfer to contribute to something a little more thought-provoking.

I don't dissuade him from posting here but I do encourage that he tries harder at providing a little more substance. If he can't do that, then maybe he should find a forum that specialises in posting extremely trivial bullshit.

It brings new meaning to the phrase "Bush sucks!"

BOOM CHING!

and we should also change the title of this thread to "ITT, george w bush the president of the united states looks like overused pop culture references".

hey bush looks like lex luthor!! watch out superman!!!

P.S. In that Gollum pic, Bush looks like he's ready to give Karl Rove a blow-job.

God is a tight bastard with his money.

A silly example: lets say that I want to go out but on my way out of the door I drop something on my shirt that leaves a stain. Therefore this is God's way to tell me that I shouldn't go out and I must stay home.

... or you could just be really clumsy.

But if you still think it was God's intention to force you to spill something over your shirt, send him a dry cleaning bill and see if he pays up.

 

I had a stand-up gig tonight with a bunch of other comedians at a local pub. Only thing was, they didn't turn off the TVs while we were performing (and why would they? It's the fucking soccer! Even the comics wanted a win!) and all of us had to fight and struggle to get the audience's attention. And we did damn well, scored a shitload of laughs while Australia scored a win!

Stand-up comics vs Soccer... Tough call!

It is a joke implying that most of the world are so caught up with themselves that they forget everything happening around them. So, in a way I am saying that some people's perception of reality is corrupt, but not necessarily yours. I have it here because I believed (and still do believe) that everyone on this forum could appreciate a slightly intelligent joke.

Animated gifs are intelligent jokes? I must have missed the memo!

i demand dancing spiderman!!!

spidjerman spiderman
doeswha
tever apsider can!@!!

[can]

But DGMacphee, you are right. Sometimes priests fall just like the average lay man and woman. But to stereotype all priests after one or two have fallen is wrong. Just like it's wrong for us to stereotype people of different color than ourselves, or cultures, etc. I totally agree that some priests have done the opposite... and have lead many souls to hell.

Whoa, whoa dude. I'm not stereotyping priests. I said...

Priests can fuck up. Any spiritual leader who is human can fuck up.

The "can" indicates all priests have the potential to fuck up, just as much as anyone. If anything, I'm stereotyping all of humanity in that everyone can fuck up.

EDIT: Except me. I'm fucking perfect! 

I like that he said God lifted the "veil of protection", like it's some kind of magic force field that diverts planes from buildings.

And remember folks, the force field is powered by the love of newborn babies and straight relationships. So get busy and start poppin' out those babies!

What good is a priest if you can't talk through him, to God? Priests study between 6 to 10 years in a seminary about the faith, morals, and God's expectations. They learn to interpret the Bible and study hard to lead souls to God. With all their knowledge and experience they have, what better person could you possibly think of that could lead you in the right direction? (I'm speaking of a catholic priest, by the way... I don't know anything about pastors, rabbis, warlocks. witches, etc.)

Yeah, but Bush speaks to God on a regular basis. He might even know God inside and out, probably even more than priests do. But knowing God doesn't automatically qualitfy you as being the best person to lead you in the right direction, as Bush's polls indicate. And since Yakspit was refering to listening to priests on such things as political matters (i.e. Yakspit: "A more religious-oriented example: If you vote based upon who your pastor or priest tells you to vote for, you're lost; a single molecule in a vast organism."), I think this is a valid point to bring this thread full circle.

Bush and all the priests in the world are only human. They are infallible as much as the next man. Priests can fuck up. Any spiritual leader who is human can fuck up. Take that fat fuck Jerry Falwell, for example, who tried to convince America that liberal civil liberties groups, feminists, pagans, homosexuals, and abortion rights supporters made God so angry that he sent two planes into the WTC.

He later apologised.

Besides, I'm not sure how to interpret that animated gif. Are you saying our perception of reality is corrupt and we should therefore disregard it, thus erasing us out of our own existence? Cause that doesn't make any sense!

maybe you should change it with spiderman dancing lol

And finally, what if there is no heaven?  Just throwing that one in there for good measure.

It's easy to imagine if you try.

I AM THE WALRUS GOO GOO G'JOOB

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/SANTAELBURRITO/pin.jpg

Dude... What if... we are all, like, ants on a pin that God is using.